Lights
by Miss I-Like-Too-Many-Fandoms
Summary: Inspired by my personal family tradition, Laura drags Carmilla out with her father to enjoy and laugh at some Christmas lights.


**Carmilla does not belong to me.**

"What?" Carmilla could not decide if she was more confused or irritated, her expression an odd mixture of the two as Laura forced her into a jacket.

"We're going to look at Christmas lights." Laura fiddled with the vampire's collar nervously.

"We're going to drive around. In the rain. And look at Christmas lights."

"Yes."

"You are a wonder, creampuff." The shorter of the duo looked up, smiling shyly before placing a sweet kiss on her girlfriend's lips. When she pulled back, she looked down, her fingers still tight on the jacket's collar.

"It's a family tradition. We don't decorate a huge amount. No time. No money. But we like to look at all the other lights. It was my mother's favorite part of Christmas. We like looking at the nice lights, you know the really expensive and well done ones, but the best ones are the ugly lights. We try and pick a winner every year. There's always some new treasure hiding in town." The brunette placed a finger beneath Laura's chin, tilting her head up for a soft kiss.

"It sounds lovely." Laura placed a quick kiss on Carmilla's cheek, her grin brightening her face as she tangled their fingers together. She dragged the vampire down the stairs and out the door, the car already started and her dad waiting. Laura paused before climbing in, conflicted between sitting up front with her dad or in the back with her very affectionate girlfriend. Before Mr. Hollis could jerk a nod to tell his daughter to climb in the back, Carmilla had already released Laura's fingers and opened the passenger side door.

"Carm."

"Climb in, cupcake." She flushed at the endearment in front of her father, slipping into the Volkswagen Passat. Carmilla sprawled herself across the backseat, seatbelt in place to please Mr. Hollis.

The first neighborhood they entered had the typical generic fare. Wreaths. White lights. The odd light up deer. The Hollises and Carmilla were equally bored with this early display. Three more neighborhoods followed in a similar fashion, many of the decorations having been used for upwards of five years. According to Laura, one of the houses they saw had used the same decorations, somehow, for the past twenty years, lights and all. The nineteen year old could not keep still, constantly shifting in her seat and looking back at the vampire, her form taught with nerves. She just wanted Carmilla to enjoy herself.

"Oooh! These are the nice lights, Carm. The really nice ones. This is the wealthiest side of town." They turned down a street that the vampire did not catch the name of. Carmilla smiled crookedly, watching the way the smaller girl's face lit up at the improvement in the decorations. She had to give it to the money of Laura's hometown, there were some pretty nice displays. "That's my favorite house!" Laura's voice had reached a pitch previously unknown to human kind.

They slowed while they passed a large stone house, the front styled as a mock turret. Their lights were certainly something. The top of the turret was wrapped in white lights, the rings stopping just above the alcove to the front door. More lights lined the roof and the trees and other topiary in front of the house. The wreaths in every window, wrapped in red ribbon and sprinkled with lights, were what Carmila really appreciated.

The rest of the street was pretty nice too. Clearly most had been done professionally, save for a few lame and surprisingly unimpressive and borderline ugly outliers.

On their way back to the house, they discovered a rather interesting display. The usual white lights were strung in the bushes of a townhouse, but the entirety of the front of the house was covered in these strange twinkling blue lights. The pinpoints of light did not rest normally either, appearing suspended in windows and strange spaces. Carmilla could see the netting but she still appreciated the strange beauty of the lights.

"Wow."

"That's a new one, huh, kiddo?"

"We should get lights like that!"

"If we can find them, of course. They're pretty neat." Carmilla gave a small smile at the exchange between father and daughter. Her gaze shifted back to her window. She was a bit disappointed, having hoped for some true Christmas atrocity to mock. She had been on her best behavior the past two weeks, wanting to impress Mr. Hollis. She had found herself looking forward to stretching her snark as they passed by cookie cutter snowflake and twinkle light covered houses. There were not even any of those awful multicolored bulbs for her to glare at. When she caught Laura's eye, the vampire quickly threw up a smirk. This meant too much to the girl for her to be her usual rude self.

She let her eyes slide back to the window. Her gaze roamed aimlessly, rolling over unimpressive homes, the random green space here and there. She climbed city hall with her eyes, noting that they were nearly back to Laura's. She was about to glare at some middle aged mom giving her a look when she caught sight of something bright reflecting off a window. Seeking out the source of the reflection, Carmilla's face broke out into devilish glee.

"Holy shit." Before Laura could shoot her girlfriend a warning, she followed the vampire's gaze. She could not see what the brunette saw, not yet, but she could see the tiniest bit of light radiating in the distance.

"Dad! Head over there! Carm saw something." Mr. Hollis sped up. Carmilla realized that Laura's excitement was genetic.

"Turn here." Over protective father and immortal creature of the night locked gazes in the rearview mirror for a moment. They turned on to Walnuss Straße.

"Holy shit."

"Laura-" Mr. Hollis' reprimand vanished from his mind, dying on his lips, as he took in the Christmas behemoth glaring at him at the end of the street. A once unassuming home had been turned into a red, green, blue, gold, was that _aqua?_ monstrosity. There were lights _everywhere_. Hanging from the roof, the porch, the trees. There were lights on the windows, swallowing the glass, defeating the whole purpose of having windows. The mixture of colors was sickening. The vibrant-not-even-an-actual-color-but-tear-in-the-universe-blue lights _blinked_.

"I think we have a winner." Carmilla's drawl earned her a stunning grin from her girlfriend.

"I don't know how you managed to see this one, Carmilla, but I'm so glad you did. This house is simply amazing. Definite winner." The vampire whistled innocently at the oblivious human father, earning a quick glare from Laura, but her eyes shined with mirth.

"It's just so _ugly_. It has to be on purpose."

"I don't know, cupcake. Maybe they're color blind. Or just blind." Laura could not even find it in her to scold the girl. She had practically rescued the expedition in her mind.

"What color is that?"

"I don't know, Daddy. Maybe we should call it aquew or blarple." Carmilla groaned and rolled her eyes while the dorks in front of her giggled in harmony.

"We should have taken a picture."

"I don't think I've ever seen anything so ugly."

"I think you're forgetting Perry's Christmas vest, sweetheart."

"But it wasn't aquew!"

"You're aquew!"

"Take that back!"

"Girls, please. It was blarple."

The banter continued all the way home, leaving the trio a giggling, crying mess. They were still grinning and commenting as they made their way back into the house, shedding coats and shoes. After the fifth hot cocoa round of the day and some more musings on the ugliest Christmas display known to man, Mr. Hollis kissed his daughter's forehead and gave Carmilla a fond pat on the shoulder before heading to bed.

Laura pulled the vampire up the stairs, the brunette much less reluctant than she had been earlier in the evening. They were barely in her room before Laura pounced, pressing a fierce kiss to Carmilla's lips.

"You." Kiss. "Are." Kiss. "The." Kiss. "Best." Kiss. "Girlfriend." Kiss. "Ever." The kiss that followed was much longer than the others, weakening the vampire's knees and leading them to Laura's bed.

"It was just some ugly lights, but anything for you, love." Carmilla knew the significance of what she had done though. As they laid tangled that night, Laura fast asleep on her chest, her arms wrapped around her in a vise, she cursed. "Dammit. I'm going soft." She smiled though, running a hand through the soft locks around her. "Merry Christmas, Laura." Going soft was not the worst thing in the world, not with such a beautiful creature to be enamored with and the feeling mutual. She did not need the stars that night. Instead, she dreamt of gaudy, twinkling Christmas lights.


End file.
